Expanding Access to Law-Related Services

The Practice of Law Board is considering many ways to fulfill its mission to recommend to the Supreme Court ways nonlawyers can assist in access to law-related services.  The Board is always interested in input and suggestions for areas to study or areas for action.  Over the next year, the Board plans to continue to work on these projects:

Legal Technician Rule Proposal 

In 2008, the Board sent its Legal Technician Rule proposal to the Supreme Court. The Court is currently scheduled to consider the rule in the summer of 2011. Legal technicians are envisioned to be educated, certified and regulated nonlawyers who are authorized to complete and advise pro se litigants about approved forms. Legal technicians will not represent clients in court. The Board envisions legal technicians as one piece of a network of programs being developed to address the access to justice issues pointed out in the 2003 Washington State Civil Legal Needs Study. The Board's UPL investigations also show that the public is being harmed by paying money to people who cannot legally and competently provide legal services.  An example of the Board's vision of the scope of a legal technician's authority is in this report from the family law sub committee. The Board also considered housing, elder law and immigration as initial areas of certification. The Board determined that immigration is not an appropriate area for Legal Technicians.  Here is an article written by board members about the rule and the legal needs it is intended to address. When the Supreme Court considers the proposed rule, it will also consider initial substantive areas of law and what additional process is appropriate for that decision. The Access to Justice Board and the Pro Bono and Legal Aid Committee submitted comments to the Court supporting the concept and need for this type of program in Washington.